Stone of the Month: 

October 2021 

"Lingering Snow"

This Kamo River Yase Sudachi stone is a provocative stone with a fascinating provenance. According to the writing on its storage box and a hand-written note accompanying the stone and its base, Lingering Snow once belonged to the well-known Meiji era artist Yamamoto Shunkyo (1871-1933). Yamamoto was a professor of the Kyoto College of Fine Arts and one of the founders of the modern Kyoto school. He was also a collector of Japanese suiseki. This stone was featured in a 2014 issue of Juseki magazine and was displayed at the 35th Taikan-ten in Kyoto in 2015. 

The stone represents a mountain peak with snow in late spring. It is 14 cm wide, 11 cm high, and 9 cm deep. That it was once owned by Yamamoto and has been in the care of different collectors for nearly a hundred years adds significantly to its importance and value. Like the Iwasaki Family Numbered Stones, this stone illustrates the importance of keeping records of their provenances.